Vanessa Clarke along with other voters cast their ballots at the Freeport Recreation Center in the village election in Freeport. (March 19, 2013) Photo Credit: Howard Schnapp

Vanessa Clarke along with other voters cast their ballots at the Freeport Recreation Center in the village election in Freeport. (March 19, 2013) (Credit: Howard Schnapp)

Freeport's controversial Mayor Andrew Hardwick was ousted Tuesday night by his former running mate, trustee Robert Kennedy, capping a heated and dramatic campaign that veered into court at one point and invoked the president of the United States at another.

The highlight of a slate of village elections across Long Island Tuesday, the Freeport race included a challenge in Nassau County Supreme...

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Freeport's controversial Mayor Andrew Hardwick was ousted Tuesday night by his former running mate, trustee Robert Kennedy, capping a heated and dramatic campaign that veered into court at one point and invoked the president of the United States at another.

The highlight of a slate of village elections across Long Island Tuesday, the Freeport race included a challenge in Nassau County Supreme Court to Kennedy's eligibility to run for office -- he was cleared -- and charges that a campaign flier distributed by Hardwick's team incorrectly claimed he had the "support" of President Barack Obama. Democratic National Committee officials said Obama had not endorsed Hardwick.

The longtime mayor of Munsey Park was also toppled by a newcomer in a rare contested election, where a slate of newcomers upset incumbents including 17-year mayor Harry Nicolaides, who lost to challenger Frank DeMento.

In the race for two trustee seats, challengers Sean Haggerty and Patrick Hance defeated incumbents Albert Jaronczyk and Sheila Brennan.

Former zoning board of appeals chairman James P. Wandell won the mayor's seat, after running on a platform charging that the current administration has raised taxes too high because of unwise spending.

He defeated two trustees, Edward C. Johnson and Peter M. Casserly, who argued the village's roughly $700,000 budget deficit would be closed or diminished if the village is paid money they say it is owed by Suffolk County and the developer of an unfinished condominium project.

Longtime resident Nicholas Busa, who ran on an anti-absentee landlord platform and helped persuade residents to vote to incorporate the village in 2010, and incumbent trustee Gary Stiriz edged out incumbent trustee Carol Bissonette for two board seats. The mayor's seat held by Bill Biondi was uncontested.

Longtime trustee Larry Werther was ousted from his seat, as incumbent trustee George Durham and newcomer Dennis Walsh claimed the two trustee positions.

Werther, the longtime New Line Party member and trustee -- and briefly, mayor -- was dropped from his party's ticket. The party named Walsh, a retired New York City police officer, as his replacement in December, after which Werther mounted an independent bid.

Durham said the vote signaled that residents "want a board that can work together. That's a decisive factor in the village, that the board has to be able to work together. They didn't want an indecisive board," he said.

The campaign involved spirited exchanges between Werther and the mayor, Scott Strauss, who was uncontested. "Larry Werther's done a lot of good things for the village," Durham said. "He had a long run, and I wish him all the best."